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Ventilator tests after hospital fires reveal no malfunctions - source

"The main version so far is the short circuit", the source said

MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/. Tests of Aventa-M ventilators, which took place after several fired in Moscow and St. Petersburg hospitals, revealed no malfunctions. a source in healthcare told TASS.

"During the investigation of reasons behind ventilator fires, we’ve conducted testing of the same equipment, produced by the Ural Instrument-making Plant in April this year and shipped to the St. George Hospital [in St. Petersburg]. The testing included various work modes with maximum load, and no malfunctions were detected," the source said.

The source added that the reason behind the fires is still unclear.

"The main version so far is the short circuit," the source said.

The source clarified that the testing encompassed the ventilators, shipped to the St. George Hospital and installed in the intensive care unit, where the fire broke out.

"All of them were from the same batch as the burned one," the source said, adding that the testing also included several other machines made at the Ural plant in April.

A source in law enforcement added that other required examinations are conducted within the investigation.

On May 9, a fire broke out in Moscow’s 50th Hospital, killing a senior patient; 295 people were evacuated from the hospital, 5 were rescued. A fire in the St. George hospital in St. Petersburg took place on May 12, spreading on 10 square meters. Six patients in the intensive care unit died. Both hospitals were retooled for treatment of the coronavirus patients.

On May 13, Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) announced that operation of the Aventa-M ventilators, produced after April 1, is suspended in Russia. A law enforcement source told TASS that the faulty ventilator was shipped to the St. George Hospital in late April.